One house near the middle of the street stands out on a Northwest Side block of otherwise neat brick bungalows and two flats.
There are stacks of old, tattered newspapers on the porch. Cans of beer, crumpled and stacked in half a dozen grocery store carts, line one side of the building. There are no trespassers-allowed signs posted to remind people of this.
It was the contents of the garage, however, that got people on this Portage Park block talking on Tuesday morning.
Dany Flores, 53, was planning to go to work today but said she now doubted she could drive.
Flores, like other 5500 blocks of West Melrose residents, found out that a 96-year-old woman’s body had been discovered in a freezer in the garage behind the property that had been littered with so much garbage.
The woman was found by police in Chicago at 4:35 p.m. on Monday, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. A family member of the victim named her Regina Michalski.
When asked why she called the police on a Monday to check on her grandmother, Sabrina Watson said, “Something just told me, let’s, let’s just be safe.” “I’m so happy I called; in fact, I’m overjoyed and ashamed that I didn’t make the call sooner.”
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The locals claimed they hadn’t seen Michalski in years. An unnamed current tenant claims, “I saw her in the past three years.” this person was referring to Michalski. Like those summers three years ago, when we had “that smell,” a genuine odor, and she would always say, “Oh, it’s the garbage.”
Over the past few months, the daughter had given several different accounts of her mother’s whereabouts and condition, including that she was in a nursing home in a different state, that she was still living at home and doing fine, and that she had died.
Martha Yanez, a sixty-year-old neighbor, has been there for the daughter for many years. She spoke kindly to Yanez, but she never invited him into her home.
“She didn’t let me go in,” Yanez said through an interpreter. She didn’t want anyone to come to see her.
Martha Yanez’s son, Hector, is 42 years old and lives in the second apartment of the duplex where Michalski’s body was discovered with his daughter. He claimed to be present when law enforcement officers arrived on the scene on Monday afternoon. He was told by the police that they were investigating a call made from out of state by a relative of the deceased woman.
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Brigitte Yanez, Hector’s daughter, said that city inspectors had visited several times in the past few months to inquire about the trash that had accumulated outside the home.
Several pet supply company boxes were found in the trash on Tuesday. Brigitte Yanez was giving an interview to a journalist when a FedEx truck pulled up and dropped off another package. A few months ago, Brigitte Yanez’s landlord mentioned that he was planning to buy a present for Brigitte’s mother.
“Every time she talked about her, it was as if she were still alive. For a while there, I was perplexed because she had told my dad that her mother was living in a Wisconsin retirement home “This is what Brigitte Yanez has to say.
Diane Michalski is one of Michalski’s grandchildren and a Niles resident. She formerly resided at the West Melrose address, she told the Sun-Times, above her grandmother.
According to Diane Michalski, her grandmother was a Polish immigrant who worked for Motorola for the majority of her life.
“I remember as a kid, she’d bring some work home and show me the little technology and all the little intricate details that she had to do for her job,” said Michalski. To paraphrase, “She was the poster child for successful women in STEM fields.”
Although Michalski hadn’t spoken to her grandparents or aunt in 20 years, she felt compelled to say, “She didn’t deserve to go that way.”
In Contrast, Those Same Residents Claimed They Hadn’t Seen Michalski In Years
Over the past few months, the daughter had given several different accounts of her mother’s whereabouts and condition, including that she was in a nursing home in a different state, that she was still living at home and doing fine, and that she had died.
Hector Ramirez, whose family also lives in the neighborhood, told CBS-2 that everyone there is in disbelief.”I’m just curious to know what went down. Ramirez commented, “It’s weird that it’s right next to us.
Diane Michalski is a grandchild who resides in the Niles area. She told the Sun-Times that she had once lived in the apartment above her grandmother’s in West Melrose.
Diane Michalski has revealed that her Polish grandmother worked for Motorola for the majority of her life.
I remember when I was younger and she would bring home some work to show me the little technology and all the little intricate details that she had to do for her job, Michalski recalled. And if you want to talk about women in STEM, she was the poster child.
Michalski said she hadn’t seen her grandmother or aunt in 20 years, and added, “She didn’t deserve to go that way.”
The corpse of Michalski was removed from the freezer by the police and delivered to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Final Words
Martha Yanez, a sixty-year-old neighbor, has been there for the daughter for many years. She spoke kindly to Yanez, but she never invited him into her home.”She didn’t let me go in,” Yanez said through an interpreter. She didn’t want anyone to come to see her.
Martha Yanez’s son, Hector, is 42 years old and lives in the second apartment of the duplex where Michalski’s body was discovered with his daughter. He claimed to be present when law enforcement officers arrived on the scene on Monday afternoon. He was told by the police that they were investigating a call made from out of state by a relative of the deceased woman.
